Jett Carney Sweeps the Weekend

It was a jam packed night at the Southern New Mexico Speedway as the USRA Modifieds, USRA Street Stocks, Southwest Late Models, Mini-Sprints, Bombers and Legends put on an exhilarating show.

The night got off with a bang as the Late Models sped onto the track bringing on a complete restart with a waive of the first green flag. The caution went to Rick Ortega who hit Billy Roy Harris in turn two, sending him to the back of the pack. Once they got going again Nita Deetz laid down on the gas and took the lead with Sherman Barnett and Dave Deetz battling for second. With 12 laps to go Brad Lape spun out in turn four for another yellow of the night. Revving back up Nita Deetz held down the lead, barely holding off Barnett and Dave Deetz. With eight to go Barnett and Nita Deetz went door to door and pushed his way past Nita Deetz. With seven laps left to go Lape got loose again in turn four and spun out. With his second yellow of the night Lape was sent off the track. Barnett was door to door with Dave Deetz with three laps to go and snuck around Barnett for the lead. Dave Deetz was determined to take the win and laid down on the hammer all the way to the checker flag.

Next up the show stopping Street Stocks literally stopped the show with a red flag in the first lap, and the second complete restart of the night. The wreck resulted in Justin Lasiter, who is in the running for the USRA National Championship, losing his bumper and putting him out for the night. With a fresh start Lloyd Turner and Donavon Flores went side by side for the lead with Turner pulling into the lead only to be passed by Flores one lap later. With 13 laps left to go Flores held down the lead but Turner had some competition for second as Brandon Cruse was right on his bumper with Jason Ziehl close behind. Ziehl was able to pull into third and then with 10 laps to go a caution brought everyone back nose to tail. After they got going again Ziehl jumped into second, going side by side for the lead with Flores. Flores revved up leaving Ziehl to battle for second with Cruse. With one lap to go Cruse jumped up to second but didn’t quite get going in time to catch Flores who passed the checker first.

The Legends got off to a rocky start with a caution coming out of lap one as two drivers got loose in the back straight away and stalled out. Coming out of the caution Mike Zuloaga had the lead and held his position, but not for long. With 11 laps to go Luis Esquivel and Joshua Jackson moved in on the leader. With 10 to go Jackson pulled into the lead and then another caution brought them back nose to tail. With the waive of the flag Jackson sped off putting some serious distance between himself and the rest of the pack. Jackson left everyone in his dust and cruised into the winner’s circle.

Next the Bombers blew the crowd away with 15 laps of non-stop racing. George La Rose pulled into the leaders spot and put some distance between himself and second place Peter Vargas. Vargas lost his spot as Mark Mays moved into his position. Mays couldn’t get enough speed to catch up to La Rose who led from flag to flag.

The fast flying Mini-Sprints were up next with Tweet Collins taking the lead in the first lap. In the same lap Sal Gomez made contact with the front wall for a caution. When they got going again Collins held down his position until Jeremy Stamper laid down on the gas and slid past Collins. Stamper left Collins and the rest of the pack in his dust as he put some distance between them. Collins had some stiff competition and Jett Carney came from behind taking the second place position with four to go. Carney wasn’t stopping there as he moved his way into the leader position with three to go. Carney held down the lead and swept the weekend after winning Friday night in El Paso.

The Modifieds went four wide before tearing up the track during the last event of the night. The race started with the third complete restart of the night. Once they got going again Jacob Gallardo took off into the lead with Fito Gallardo hot on his bumper. They went side by side, lap for lap for the lead. With 22 laps to go Dustin Smith stopped in turn two bringing the pack back together. Jacob Gallardo took off after the caution putting some distance between himself and Fito Gallardo with third place Royal Jones almost a full turn behind. With 11 laps to go Fito and Jacob Gallardo caught up to the back of the pack making things interesting. With the back of the pack in the way Fito Gallardo took advantage of the situation and moved past Jacob Gallardo. With the back other the pack coming between them Fito Gallardo seemed to have the win until a car got loose in turn two bringing them back bumper to bumper. Fito Gallardo wasn’t going to let that caution, or the two that quickly followed, come between him and the win as he left the rest of the pack in his tracks and took the win.

Back in action again next week are the Mini-Sprints plus the Street Stocks, Limited X-Mods, and Legends. See you next week at the races.